Fred brings up a very very very important subject: Movies everyone should see before they die.
My response (and no, I don’t pretend to think it’s definitive, but it was time to stop):
La Strada
The Wizard of Oz
Casablanca
Wings of Desire
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Rear Window
Rope
Singin’ in the Rain
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Philadelphia Story
Sunset Boulevard
The Seventh Seal
La Belle et La Bete
Modern Times
The Gold Rush
The General
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Pandora’s Box (Netflix doesn’t have this)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Metropolis
Everything Akira Kurosawa directed that you can find, but if that’s too vague, for sure see:
Throne of Blood
Red Beard
Ran
Rashomon
Stray Dog
Yojimbo
Manhattan
Hannah & Her Sisters
Sleeper
Interiors
Another Woman
The Princess Bride
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
The Shining
Vanya on 42nd Street
I forgot so many.
We’re movie hounds at my house. Thank God I married a man who loves movies as much as I do. I love movies as literature, as much as for pure mindlessness. Pure mindless entertainment, lately, has in fact lost its appeal. I find myself seeking a film which will change me. Desperately Seeking Emotional Impact, no Hollywood Blockbusters need apply. As you might expect, we’ve abandoned the local video store. After 2 hours wandering the aisles, I reach a zen state where time & space no longer impact me – and my brain is eating itself. When the only ‘good movies’ are the movies I’ve already seen, the video store is no longer any use to me. I’m not a snob, I’m not hyper-intellectualizing the purpose of entertainment; I just figure life’s too short to watch mediocre crap by accident. I enjoy bad sci-fi as much as the next person (how much? too much), but LIFE IS TOO SHORT. I want something else. Bad sci-fi on purpose is fine as a treat (like gummi bears, or hershey bars), but not at every meal.
Pardon me while I break into an ad campaign: I *heart* Netflix. I do. If it’s on DVD, they’ve got it. There’s a distribution center right here, it’s a one-day turnaround. Looking for an old Clara Bow or Buster Keaton silent flicker? They’ve probably got it. Hollywood Video? Nah. Blockbuster Video? Nah. My oddball corner mom&pop video store? Sadly, nah. So there it is. The decision is made. No more video store rentals. Meanwhile, I’m making my way through the entire Kurosawa oevre. Oevre is a fun word. OO-vruh.
The next five items on my Netflix Queue:
- Dr. Strangelove
- Farscape Season 3, eps 1, 2, 3, 4
- Persona
- Fitzcarraldo
- Prime Suspect 1
